A cool breeze came across the desolate park, rustling Augustus's white fur as he sat enjoying the fall afternoon. He was taking his studies more seriously, but it was nice to take a break and get away from the chaos and drama every once in a while. Just him and his thoughts. Perhaps a duck or two. However, today, he brought along a new item of interest; a guitar. He'd rescued it from decaying in the back of his houses' attic a few weeks prior. At one point, a long time ago, his father intended to learn to play. That fell through when he lost his job and had to move everyone to the lower end of Roseville. Augustus had taken the time to attempt to learn a few songs. It was a positive creative outlet for him, and he wondered if he would have even bothered joining Alejandro's gang if he started sooner. That was all in the distant past now, what mattered was the present.

So here the siamese cat sat alone, soaking in the midday sun and breeze, absentmindedly strumming the old instrument. He looked over the ripples in the lake, and the rustling of the leaves in the trees. He hadn't been there too long, only about thirty minutes ago did he leave Lucy's house with it, telling her he'd be out for a while. She was busy playing videogames with Paulo, who'd been coming over often recently. It made him think of Melanie, and how she was doing. His heart ached for her still, even after so long. Knowing she was safe, that she had an opportunity to live the life she deserved, made it all worthwhile. Love wasn't something he really considered before her, but now it was something that sat in his subconscious. He wanted someone, someone like… Daisy.

Man, he'd hurt her bad. That, more than anything, more than seeing her with someone else, ate him up inside. After all the kindness and care she showed him, he tried to force himself on her. Sure, the original intention was to infiltrate the friend group to learn more about them, but he genuinely ended up falling in love. It was a huge motivator to putting distance between himself and the thugs. If something happened to her, he would never forgive himself. The fact he tried to corrupt her was deplorable in itself. She was pure, genuine, and soft. It probably saved him from a lifetime of misery as well, as her love showed him that not everyone was bad, and maybe he didn't have to be either. This led him down a path of redemption, where he ended up saving the life of the girl Alejandro wanted dead.

Another breeze rolled over the lake, pulling with it small waves. Augustus closed his eyes in anticipation. It washed over him, and he truly felt at peace. That was, until he heard a twig snap behind him, causing him to nearly jump out of his fur. His head jerked around, wide eyed, looking at what caused the noise. Or in this case, who. The who in question was a tall yellowish cat with frizzy brown hair. Her bangs were dyed pink, and around her neck was a star necklace. Her cheeks burned bright red. "S-sorry!" She stammered. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Augustus lowered his guard. It was just Tess. "It's fine." He mumbled, a little annoyed that his meditating was interrupted. He turned back around and went back to strumming his guitar.

"If you aren't busy, I would like to talk." Tess said, timidly, unsure if this was a good idea. She had some skeletons still in her closet, and her and Augustus definitely never got along.. "Well apologize, more like."

The strumming abruptly stopped and Tess felt her heart sink. The boy turned around and she braced for the worst. But Augustus had grown since she most knew him, and he took it in stride. It was mostly confusion, though. "Apologize? For what?"

She didn't know how long things would be, so she asked, "May I sit with you?"

It seemed a silly question to Augustus. "It's a public park." He shrugged. "You can sit wherever you like."

Tess took this as a roundabout way of saying yes. Things were never straightforward when it came to the siamese cat. She walked around and took a seat in front of him, blocking the lake from view. He looked over at her lazily, waiting for her to say what she needed to. Tess took a deep breath and then spoke. "I wanted to apologize for how I was when I was a freshman. When I was with Roger. I did a lot of things I regret. I was horrible to everyone, including you."

The words weren't empty, the girl was genuinely sorrowful. She gave a pathetic look, like a child who'd been caught with their hand in a cookie jar. The tyranny her and Roger brought upon the student populace hadn't been forgotten, even two years on. Augustus had his fair share of lumps from the group of bullies. Though, at the same time, he may have deserved some of it. "I wasn't exactly a boyscout myself." He said.

"But that doesn't mean we should have treated you like that!" Tess insisted, with a little bit more emotion than Augustus was expecting.

The boy sat up straight. "Maybe. But I forgive you."

"Thank you." Tess replied, with a little smile. She didn't know how things were going to go with him, but this wasn't at all what she expected. He wasn't snarky or vindictive like others had been. There were still some that hadn't forgiven her at all. Yet here was Augustus, who slinked around school finding dirt on everyone, just okay with it.

Augustus looked down and went back to strumming his guitar, considering their conversation over. Tess sat in awkward silence watching him play. He could feel her eyes on him so he stopped playing and looked at her. He was expecting her to leave, but she stayed put. "Is there anything else?" He asked.

Tess hugged herself. "No." She said quietly. "I guess not." Yet, she felt like she wanted to say more, but what?

"Alright. Well, don't let me keep you." He said, and went back to the instrument.

The guitar became her focus as well. He seemed to know what he was doing. "Do you know any songs?" She inquired, watching his fingers dance along the strings.

"Kind of." He said, trying to get lost in his happy place again. "I only just started playing."

Tess liked music. Maybe it was the calming atmosphere, but she wanted to watch him play more. "Could you do a song?"

Augustus sighed internally. She wasn't going away, was she? He didn't dislike her, but he did like his personal time. "How did you find me?"

"Ah…" Tess played with her necklace anxiously. "I texted Lucy, asking where you were. She told me to find you here but you seemed like you were in a zone, so I was going to leave you be."

"Mm." Was Augustus's response. He'd have to have a talk with Lucy about that when he got home.

"I heard you saved her life." She said, recalling a conversation she had with the khao manee recently. It came to her as a shock, and it was what prompted her to talk to him and apologize personally. She had to see for herself if the conniving Augustus had really changed for the better. So far, he was living up to that expectation.

"More or less." Augustus was really humble about that. He never flaunted his rescuing of Lucy, and he didn't want a bunch of attention for it. It was the right thing to do. Was he just supposed to watch her bleed out on the sidewalk?

"That was really good of you." Tess scooted closer. "I know she isn't the easiest to get along with."

For the first time, Augustus cracked a small smile. Lucy was quite the diamond in the rough. "Yeah, I've learned that. I don't let it get to me. I've seen worse." He looked up from his guitar to see Tess had gotten closer. Her smile glowed in the setting sun. "Y'know, I think I can play one song halfway decently."

"I wanna hear it!" She said enthusiastically.

"Alright, just don't blame me if your ears bleed." He joked, though he was now fairly confident with his skills. "Here's an attempt at Hotel California."